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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the course of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the original case.